“Did we actually die?” Lili asked softly.

  “Yeah,” Tesilim responded quietly, momentarily hugging her tighter as they both lapsed into silence.

  “Well, the image did not come to life, so we can remove that from the possibilities,” they heard Alyx say in the background, apparently already over his recent death.

  “Tesilim,” Lili said in a whisper.

  “Yeah?” He responded, keeping his voice low as well.

  “It's okay now, I am back, everything is fine,” she told him reassuringly.

  “I know, but it's just that…” Tesilim began but held himself back.

  In response, Lili placed her hands on his shoulder and pushed him back until she was staring into his swirling eyes. Then, her palms moved to his cheeks, and she pulled him in for a deep kiss. Lili knew what he was thinking; they had just begun their journey together, and furthermore, they had become good friends. He was feeling the same things she had felt the day he had died.

  “I know, you don’t even have to say it. I felt the same when you died,” she told him, and felt as his body drooped.

  “Sure, but this time it was you. You died because of me,” Tesilim said in self-recrimination.

  “Sure, but it's not like I didn’t know what the risks were. Must I remind you we almost died not that long ago?” Of course, Lili had failed to realize that her answer only made him feel worse.

  “Oh, please! Tesilim, get a hold of yourself!” Alyx interjected, having grown bored of inspecting the illusion.

  Hearing the gnome, Tesilim glared at him and was about to say something before the gnome cut him off.

  “Listen, any of us can die at any point. The only unknown is from what. You yourself have died already, and have come close to doing so again a few times. That said, you have maybe added like two or three chances of that happening so far, which is a drop in the bucket. I deal with crazy soul stuff all the time and have come close to death already. And her, well, she is an elf with a couple of centuries under her belt. Honestly, she has probably died a few times already and was likely resurrected, so this isn’t anything new. What matters is that we are still here, still alive, and if dying hasn’t caused me or her any problems, then no harm done.”

  Listening to Alyx, he had to admit the gnome made some good points, and by the end of his rant, Tesilim felt better, but wasn’t really in it. The gnome could make all the sense in the world, but sometimes reasoning clashed with feelings, and for Tesilim, he had indirectly or directly killed both of them. Even if they were alive, Tesilim still felt bad for having them go through that. Sure, near death was one thing, like with the dragon, but death was something else. Of course, he also realized that he was a bit of a hypocrite with the reasoning, but he also knew he wasn’t perfect.

  At the very least, Alyx’s words got him to acknowledge some of reality, and he helped Lili get up.

  “Are you guys really okay?” Tesilim asked the two, having decided that even if he felt bad, they had made their own choices to be there. So, he instead focused on inspecting them to see if they were okay.

  “Yeah, like Alyx said, not my first time dying, though usually I know what kills me before dying, not just randomly drop to the ground,” Lili told him with a light smile on her face, ensuring he knew that she did not hold the experience against him.

  “I am fine, if anything, I should thank you, dying is an interesting experience when it doesn’t stick,” The gnome told him, earning a frown from the elf.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, when souls die, they usually pop out of the body and go on with the cycle based on a few things. However, that didn’t happen here; my soul never left my body.”

  “How do you know that? Also, what is the cycle? And I am assuming you mean the resurrection cycle, right?” Tesilim asked, curious about how death worked in his new world.

  “No, that’s not the cycle, though it depends. Let me begin by saying that the cycle is a general term for what happens to souls. Usually, this involves them being stripped for parts as their various pieces are pulled into various Realms of the world, such as the Knowledge Realm, or as they cease to exist.

  “This cycle can be interrupted by the gods claiming their followers souls, or the God of Death, who does offer the possibility of resurrection, if he deems a soul fit for it. Then there are Realm creatures who can snatch souls, or even necromancers and others who dabble in soul magic. Finally, if a soul has a lot of trauma, it can linger in the mortal plane and become a specter of one type or another.”

  “Okay, good to know ghosts are real, though seeing as how there are so many things that can go wrong with souls, the entire process kinda sucks,” Tesilim told the gnome, interrupting his explanation and gaining a glare for taking him out of his teaching zone.

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  “Yes, it is as you say, but luckily for the most part, a lot of souls either fall apart, usually that of monsters, while the enlightened end up in Detrix’s hands, to be resurrected or let go back to continue the normal cycle of nothingness. As for the rest, well, that’s based on circumstances, and isn’t even the full range of things that can happen to souls.

  “Now, as for how I know, well, while I was out, I was talking to my goddesses. Who were interested in my death. Normally, I wouldn’t have been conscious since souls can’t really be aware of their surroundings like that, but I technically wasn’t dead. It was like I was in my soul realm for a bit, and they informed me of my situation.”

  “Huh, okay. Hey, my undead cutey, did the same happen to you?” Tesilim asked Lili, already feeling good enough to joke, even if he got a slap from her.

  “Don’t call me that! But yes, that’s what happened to me, except there is no god, and I was just confused,” Lili told him, playfully slapping him.

  “So, basically, we all have experienced a different type of death?” Tesilim asked, curious.

  “It seems so, because I don’t remember anything about when I was dead before,” Lili added.

  “Yes, that’s about right. Usually, you shouldn’t really remember things after death, outside of maybe odd feelings based on what your soul may be experiencing, and even that only translates as odd dreams or weirdly finding something familiar. Interestingly enough, something that many people have in common, at least those who have been resurrected, is the feeling of flying or floating,” Alyx told them.

  “I am guessing that’s because their souls were floating away?” Tesilim said, theorizing why they might have felt that way.

  “Likely, yeah,” The gnome answered.

  “Wait, so at what point is someone unable to be resurrected?”

  “Good question, Tesilim, and it depends because souls linger in or around their bodies for different times, and usually, as long as they don’t get too far into the cycle, it is possible to bring them back and resurrect someone. However, usually the further away the soul is, the harder it is, requiring stronger magic, and even then, sometimes souls can deny resurrection.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Oh yeah, if someone died in peace and has no attachment, it's possible they don’t want to be brought back,” Alyx explained.

  “I don’t think I could ever be okay with dying,” Tesilim said, thinking about how hard he tried to stay alive.

  “Maybe, but not everyone feels the same way. Some people would rather embrace death than continue suffering. Remember those people back at the cave?” Lili told him, which made him realize that there were things much worse than death.

  “That’s fair, I wouldn’t want to live like that,” Tesilim told her.

  “And it's not just those; the world is unfair, and many people find themselves wishing for death. Not everyone is as unwavering as you,” His girl told him.

  With that, they went silent for a few seconds as they arranged their thoughts, until Tesilim spoke up.

  “So, death aside, we learned my illusions don’t come to life. Should we head back to the city?”

  “Yeah, I believe you owe me big for killing me, and I am going to make sure you pay your debt,” Lili told him with a devious smile that let him know it was going to be a long night.

  “Hey Alyx, you okay?” Tesilim asked the gnome, realizing he had gone quiet, and trying to change the subject for the time being.

  “Huh? Oh, yeah, just talking to my patrons. It seems they are interested in the magic that killed us and brought us back so smoothly, so they are preparing rituals and experiments to scan me up and down.”

  “Are you serious?” Tesilim said, unsure if Alyx was being serious, and worried about the possible future implications.

  “Yes, they are even sending some people out here to scan the area we are in.”

  “Hmm, Alyx, is this going to be a problem?” Lili asked warily.

  “I don’t think so, they are both aware of Tesilim, and know I have been looking into him. I think it's more like they are curious about this specific thing.”

  “Thank the gods,” Tesilim said, releasing a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

  “Why this magic?” Lili asked, curious about the intentions of Alyx’s patrons and already having an idea of their reasoning.

  “It seems they are interested in duplicating it to use against possible enemies. However, mainly, they want to know it works,” Alyx told them casually.

  “What!? That seems like a bit much!” Tesilim blurted.

  “Not really, I am sure many gods would be interested in magic that can kill without any difficulty, while also being untraceable,” Lili told him

  “Okay, when you put it like that, it seems more realistic, but don’t they already have that power?”

  “Yes, they do have that kind of power, but not the untraceable part, hence why they are likely interested in that aspect of the magic, and not the killing part, even if it would be a good tool. Plus, like I told them, they likely won’t find anything,” The gnome explained.

  “How come?” Tesilim questioned.

  “Well, as I have theorized, this magic is likely done by the World Crystal, which means if it doesn’t want them to know, they won’t.”

  “You really think the World Crystal is behind this?” Lili asked.

  “Maybe, maybe not, I haven’t really been told much, but so far it has confirmed it's responsible for the system, and it is aware of Chaos Mana, so it seems likely,” The gnome added.

  “I can see that, but I don’t think it's this World Crystal, since I got the powers from Earth’s Crystal,” Tesilim clarified.

  “Right, right, but in general, the World Crystals seem to be behind it all.”

  “Unless, well, maybe not,” Lili began, but stopped.

  “What is it?” Tesilim said, curious about what his girlfriend was thinking.

  “Tesilim, you never made contact with a demon, right?” Lili asked, getting a curious look from Alyx.

  “A demon? Uh, no, at least as far as I know, I haven’t. I have met a devil, but that’s different, right?”

  “It is,” Alyx told him without missing a beat.

  “Why?”

  “Well, from what I have read, some Demon Monarchs can consume and survive in Chaos Mana, so I was wondering if maybe some weird magic happened that somehow rubbed off their affinity to Chaos Mana on you.”

  “Hmm, no, I don’t recall meeting a demon, but I did lose consciousness before entering the portal that brought me here. So, it is possible that something happened there, but that’s silly.”

  “What do you mean?” She asked.

  “Well, why would the World Crystal give me the system, then, say that the other World Crystal gave me its blessing, which is what transformed me into a Chaos Elf, and the reason I have chaos powers. After all, it is literally a god, so what point is there in deceiving little ol' me by hiding the fact that a Demon Monarch might be responsible?”